Tuesday, October 13, 2015

On Safari With Gert 12 October 2015

12 October 2015

Today
started off quite cool and overcast and turned out being a very good day for
predators. As we haven't really had very good lion sightings as a group, we set
out with that as the main mission for the day.

First
up however, we were alerted to the presence of a leopard a few kilometers away.
We went looking for it‎ and were lucky enough to find it, lying on a termite
mound under a small tree and optimistically eyeing some Kudu close by. As this
was a female Leopard and hence not very big, attempting to catch a large kudu
would most likely be a step too far for her and she eventually just lay down
and got comfortable on the mound. We left her in peace and carried on past a
hyena den, where we found 1 hyena sleeping outside the den entrance. It woke
every now and then, lifting it's head and sniffing the breeze. We also found 3
wild dogs lying under a tree, quite far off the road, but offering good
visibility when they raised their heads occasionally. When their heads were
down, it was just the occasional flick of their large rounded ears that
betrayed their presence.

After
plenty of‎ searching we did manage to find 2 lionesses at a watering hole,
lying in the shade as by that time the sun was breaking through the clouds and
it started warming up significantly. Even though they were also quite far from
the vehicle, we did get to see them quite well as they got up and wandered
around the waterhole looking for a more comfortable spot.

The
real highlights of the day came at other waterholes later in the day as we at
one stage had a small herd of impala, several large kudu bulls and a giraffe
drinking at the same time. Later on at a large dam we were lucky enough to find
a small breeding herd of elephant drinking and playing in the water. One of the
young males were quite excitable and cocky and took it upon himself to make
sure they have no unwanted visitors. He also came right up to our vehicle and
we decided to give them a bit of space as elephants always have right of way..!
They then found a new spot along the bank to drink and swim, before having a
quick dust bath. At the same dam there was also a large (approx 5m long)
crocodile, some hippos in the water, warthog, Zebra, blue wildebeest, impala,
Waterbuck and velvet monkeys, all at the same time.

The
dam was the hub of activity for about 20 minutes before it quieted down and
only a few impalas were to be seen and the distant rumbling of the elephants
could be heard.

We
also found several large bull elephants among which were some impressive
tuskers on the way back to camp. All in all a very lucrative day with sightings
of all the big 5 members and Hyena and Wild dogs‎ to make it mission
accomplished!

We also conduct day safaris, where guests are picked up at hotels and guest houses around the perimeter of the park where after they can spend a good day viewing the Big 5 aboard our purpose built open safari vehicles.